0.02: Dream at midnight

At 11:45 PM, Sanji and Sasha arrived at the front door equipped for battle. Sanji carried the sword given to him by his Immortal, while Sasha wielded a spear with a projectile tip. As they prepared for the ultimate dream, Gaiyato appeared on TV again, and viewers eagerly awaited what would come.

"Greetings once more to all the ronins and humans out there. Before we commence with the formalities, I need to explain the rules. Although this is a dream, you can still interact with your surroundings like in reality. Any weapons you want to take with you, have them on you or in your circle before you enter the world. And most importantly, you will be using your consciousness to battle."3

All the viewers gasped at what he had just said.

"I guess everyone understood what I meant by that. It means that if anything is to happen to you, we will take no credit for it. But for a safety measure, you are allowed to quit whenever you feel the need to. Your allies can also quit for you by pressing the forfeit button on your neck. And once you do so, you'll return to the real world. But that will count as disqualification if you did it intentionally or not."

As he explained the rules, the sky was finally clouded.

"Oh, it looks like the time has arrived. Ronins and humans, get to your post where you will stand solo or in groups. Now, sit down, place your hands on your knees if you're alone, or hold your companion's hand in a group."

They looked at Konami. She said she knew how to do it, but it had already been demonstrated. She panicked as she didn't know what other tricks to try. Sasha just sat, laid her spear on her lap, and then held her hand to Tedashii. He did the same and took his grandfather's ski goggles on his neck. He held his hand out to Yuri, who took her Sai blades with him and sat down. Sanji sat down with his sword on his hip, and before he wanted to connect his hand with Sasha's, he held it out to Konami.

"Wait?" She asked.

"There isn't any reason to let you stay by yourself anyway. What are you taking with you?"

Konami looked around in a hurry but didn't know what. She then ran upstairs and took her time.

"Konami! Hurry up! The apprehension will begin soon." Sasha told her.

And so, she returned with one of her mother's favorite pendants. It had the initials FF on it.

Yuri wanted her to put it back, but Sanji told her there wasn't any time left. So she quickly took a seat and smiled at Yuri.

"Well then, if everybody is ready, close your eyes."

And without hesitation, the eyes of all the willing ronins and humans in different countries were shut.

"Fascinating! Over 800,000,000 of you have been detected. Huh…" Gaiyato was startled for a moment as he detected someone specific. ("And to think I thought you never watched the news. Damn it…")

"Gaiyato. Is everything alright?" Martin asked. Gaiyato snapped out of his thoughts.

"Oh yes. Sorry for the hold-up." He cleared his throat and turned back to the camera.

"Alright. 30 seconds before the dream worlds are configured. Don't open your eyes during teleportation, and have a safe journey ahead."

Every competitor worldwide was excited about this experience. The countdown went down from 10 seconds.

-3, 2, 1

…

The dream world was practical, at least for those who knew.

Tedashii and the others opened their eyes and noticed they were still inside their home.

"Wait. Did we do something wrong?" Tedashii asked.

"Not that I think...did anyone open their eyes?" Sanji asked.

"Yeah, right. That will help so much to know who opened their eyes. It failed, just like I told you guys! We will never be able to become Quarts members now." Sasha faltered out of anxiety, for she needed this the most out of them.

"Come on, guys. There is no need to point fingers now. Maybe we can try again next time." Tedashii tried to encourage them.

"AND WHEN WILL THAT BE?! I NEED TO SAVE MY SISTERS! YOU SAID WE COULD, NOW WHY SHOULD I WAIT FOR-"

Rumble!!

A sudden shake from the ground silenced the teenagers.

"What was that?" Yuri asked.

"Oh, that must be my stomach. You don't want to be around me when I'm hungry. Hahahaha-"

Rumble!!

Another shock-wave came; this time, it was not Tedashii's stomach.

"OK...that is NOT my stomach."

"NO SH*T???!!!" They all yelled back.

They all decided to open the door and noticed the clouds moving faster.

"Wh...what is going on with the house?" Konami asked.

"How is it even moving?!" Sanji asked as he walked towards the edge to look down, and he did not like what he saw.

The ground level disappeared under the clouds that surrounded the mountains. He quickly stepped back.

"Sanji!" Yuri grabbed his collar before he fell off.

"AH! THANKS!"

They all came closer to see what the shock wave was. They were all struck to see how high they were above ground level. While screaming and running around, a colossal head appeared from the northern side of the house. They hesitantly inspected it and found that it was the head of a sea turtle. But this turtle was flying in the sky?

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" They couldn't stop panicking.

Out of panic, Konami decided to go to the tree and hide inside the trunk. Their coordination was off balance, and they only drew attention to the turtle. It slowly opened its eyes and stared at them—just its eye was precisely the size of their entire yard. One blink left a burst of wind.

Tedashii and the others froze, not knowing what to do against such a massive opponent.

"Guys... don't move a muscle..." Sanji whispered to them.

But the look on Tedashii's face had different plans. Yuri, Konami, and Sasha looked at him, and Sanji turned back to see it.

"Tedashii...whatever you have in mind... don't. Do. it." He said as sweat broke down to his chin.

"I'm gonna punch it..."

"No...you won't do anything. Just stay put."

Then, Tedashii began to charge spiritas.

"Tedashii..."

He wasn't listening. "Hakuraa"2

Tedashii took his stance.

"No, no, no..."

"BLUE-ROSE"

He clenched his fist.

"TEDASHII, YOU'LL KILL US ALL!!"

"HAHAHA!! Alright then, Crystal Prowess." Sasha also began to charge her spiritas.

"Sasha, not you too..." Sanji said and turned right to see Yuri charge hers as well.

"You…have to be kidding me."

And so there stood Sanji. Right before one of the biggest opponents he ever faced, while he tried to avoid any conflict, three 'crazy' ronins prepared to attack it before he could even run. So the carnage was inevitable.

BOOM!!

Yuri fired her Wind Tornado in its eye, while Sasha fired Crystal shards in its iris. Tedashii jumped up in the sky and prepared his finishing blow.

HAKURAA: BLUE ROSE FIST!!

BAMM!!

The impact was on the turtle's face, leaving it roaring out of agony.

ROOOOOAAAAARRRRRR!!!!

The screeching was so loud that they didn't have time to think of covering their ears. The house was blown right off the ground. And just before Tedashii could attack again, the turtle tilted its head back in the clouds. Sanji thought they beat it. And so he celebrated with the same feared look in his eyes. But then they all felt lifted off the ground, for this was the turtle doing a barrel roll.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" They all screamed, trying to hold onto the ground, but they were already too high. Konami was still sitting in the tree.

"OH, NO! KONAMI!!!" Sasha yelled. Tedashii tried to fly to her when he realized...he couldn't fly. "SANJI, GIVE ME A BOOST!"

Tedashii aimed his arm toward Sanji's sword. Sanji then took it out and aimed it at the tree trunk. While he threw it, the rest was onto Tedashii to hold it on its base...but he had it right onto the blade, and it pierced through his hand.

BWIGH!

When Tedashii saw the wound, he instantly fainted and began to fall. Sanji held his hand out, and the blade started to float back to him.

"YOU MORON! This is not the right time to take a nap!" Tedashii woke up and shook his head.

"Yeah, you're right! We have to get to Konami and make her quit!" Yuri suggested.

As much as nobody wanted that, her safety was more important. So their objective was to get to her as fast as possible.

"Alright! We have to find a way to get to the...tree-"

The shadow of the turtle's leg obscured the sun above them. And all they could do was watch it get closer and closer.

"EVERYONE WATCH OUT-!!!!!!"

SLAM!!

They could not avoid the impact and were all sent flying down with immaculate speed. Tedashii had a last glimpse of Sanji, Yuri, Sasha, and the tree.

"Guys..."

And all went black as he hit the ground.

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This was, in fact, the dream world, but they figured it out too late. Luckily, they wouldn't die from high landing since they are ronins, but that still did a lot of damage to them.

The sound of a bowl was heard from afar, and the muffled voice of an older adult arguing with a young man.

"..."

"..."

Nothing but the two of them trying to scream above each other's tone was heard. The words were getting more and more clearer.

"...you…always…why…idiot!"

"he…from…no money…sorry."

Tedashii began to regain his consciousness. He noticed he was in an orange-lit room with blankets made of wool. But he also noticed that nothing in this house was modern.

"Where…am I?"

Tedashii got up from the bed and then looked at the two men.

"O GROZAV!! ESTI TREAZ!" The young man said.

Tedashii jumped off the bed and pulled his fists at them. "WHAT'S GOING ON?!"

"OH MY WORD! HIS EYES! HE HAS ROYAL BLOOD!!"

The older man began to ring a bell by his window. Out of panic, Tedashii busted out of the house. And just like that, everyone was looking at him like an outcast.

"What is your kind doing here!!"

Everyone started ringing their bells, and that's when Tedashii knew that was not a good sign. Two juggernauts made of stone appeared from behind him.

"DO NOT RESIST!1" It said.

Tedashii then ran away. He kept looking around, and this was not Meadow Town. Everyone was wearing rags and were all men. There was no sign of modernization, and no specialized weapons could be used. Tedashii then took an alley on his left, but it was a dead end.

"DAMMIT!! …TIME TO GO UP!"

So he increased his speed and began leaping onto the wall. The juggernauts could stare from below and then throw rocks at him. He climbed and dodged but ensured his feet always touched the surface after a jump. But then one of the rocks hit the wall towards his next step, and now he was up in the air.

"WHOA!!"

Tedashii lost his pace and began to descend. The juggernauts threw their last rocks to finish him, but that gave him an idea. He turned towards them and then used the rocks as stepping stones. It gave him a boost to the top. He then landed on the rooftops and could not believe what he saw.

"What...where am I?" He asked.

A voice called for him from afar. It looked like Sanji was also sent to this unfamiliar place.

"Tedashii! Are you alright?!" He asked.

"Yeah, do you know what happened to the others?" Tedashii asked him.

But Sanji just shook his head, and they kept staring at this village.

"I don't know how to explain our current situation, but this is not Meadow Town..." Sanji said.

"Well, that is beyond obvious-!!! Wait! This is the dream world. IT WORKED!!!!"

"Tedashii, we haven't been here for a day, and you have already lost your-"

Sanji was about to scratch his neck, but Tedashii held his hand in time.

"Careful! Don't you remember about the button?"

Sanji was annoyed by Tedashii's persistence around him, but then he began to remember. He turned Tedashii around and saw the button as well.

"You're right! These are the forfeit options they talked about! We... made it in!!"

They celebrated as they earned themselves the chance to become Quarts members, but then they were ambushed by security guards.

WHACK!

This was the start of a new journey worldwide. All the ronins and humans who participated were now sent to their respective zones. But now it was down to zone number 10, where Tedashii, Yuri, Konami, Sanji, and Sasha were settled.

They were sent to the wondrous LILO-LAND!